March 17, 2007 — Boys Dem left nothing to chance Friday night as they outhustled, outrebounded and outshot the slightly favored Lakers to win 45-42 and take the Ronald Charles basketball championship.
Going into the game the best-of-three championship series was knotted at one win apiece, with Boys Dem representing the Roger Bell division of the league. The Lakers, after being down for most of the game, stormed back late but came up just short.
Boys Dem Coach Keith Swanson built his team's game plan around rebounding.
"We needed to rebound the ball better, so my game plan was to put James Snead in the forward position, because he does box out better than the rest of the players," Swanson said. "So that gave me a chance to get more rebounds. I also told them that this is the do-or-die game, and we have to do."
Boys Dem jumped out to an early 5-0 lead before the Lakers got on the board. The Lakers came back to trail 7-6 and had opportunities to tie, but missed too many early free throws. Boys Dem was able to outhustle them the rest of the way for a 14-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The teams went into run-and-shoot mode during the second quarter, and the Lakers fought back to get to within two points at 19-17. But Boys Dem responded with a 7-2 run — highlighted by a three-pointer at the buzzer by Theron Jones — to go into the locker room with a seven-point lead at 26-19.
The teams started the third quarter trading baskets. With 1:36 to go in the period, the Lakers pulled within three at 30-27 after a layup by Charles Moorehead. Boys Dem missed on their next possession, and Jonathan Fontenelle tipped in a missed field goal to bring his team to within one at 30-29 at the end of the third quarter.
Led by point guard Kimani Smith, Boys Dem opened the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run to open up a seven-point lead at 36-29 and began to taste the championship. The Boys Dem lead went to five points at 40-35 with 1:20 left in the game after a basket by James Snead, but the Lakers went on a 7-3 run to get to within one at 43-42 with 19 seconds left. The Lakers got the rebound after a miss on the front end of one-and-one.
But they were careless with the ball and promptly turned it back over to Boys Dem with seven seconds left in the game. On the inbound for Boys Dem, a Laker intentionally fouled Jones with five seconds left. He calmly went to the line and sank both ends of the one-and-one to give his team a three-point lead and the championship at 45-42. The Lakers' Rashawn Burke had a good look at a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but it hit the side of the rim.
Jones led the Boys Dem attack with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Snead netted 13 and Salim Ross chipped in with 11. For the Lakers, it was Charles Moorehead scoring a game-high 17 points while hauling down 12 rebounds.
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